The Basic Concept Behind Clean Eating

Clean eating is a simple, inexpensive way to eat healthy. Because it’s good for the body and easy to do, the popularity of this eating plan continues to rise. The basic concept behind clean eating is based on guidelines that anyone can adhere to.

You start by making sure that the foods you have for your snacks and all of your meals are natural ones. You would pick food items that are as close to the way that they were made in nature over picking foods that are processed.

When foods are processed, you can usually tell by the packaging. These items will usually be in cans or boxes. If it has an ingredient label with more than one or two items, then it’s usually processed.

To avoid processed foods, look for items that are found in your produce section such as leafy green vegetables and fruits. Non-processed foods are ones that are brought to the store in the same state in which they were grown.

They’re not put in cans or covered in preservatives or anything additional. When you’re following a clean eating plan, you’ll want to make sure your menus are based on unrefined foods.

Refined foods are foods that have been changed from the way they were grown into something where the makeup of the original isn’t the same. For example, white rice was changed from its original state of brown rice.

You want your diet to be filled with whole grains as much as possible. This means that you should eat things like brown rice or legumes. Some people are addicted to sugar but sugar isn’t good for you and when you’re on a clean eating plan, it’s best to avoid it.

You can have sweets in place of sugar such as honey. Don’t skip out on the protein. You need that for healthy muscles plus, it gives you the energy that your body requires. You can eat smaller portions of protein throughout the day and in many different forms such as beans or poultry.

You also need healthy fats like olive oil in your clean eating diet. You need to pay attention to the amount of salt in your diet. You’ll usually be able to limit your intake of salt once you stop eating processed foods.

When you choose clean eating, the food is in a natural state which doesn’t contain all the additives that processed foods have. It’s these additives that can negatively impact your health.

You’ll want to spread your meals out over the course of the day rather than having three large meals. For some people, this will mean making sure they add filling snacks in between meals.

Just 30 Minutes a Day Once a Week of Gardening Reduces Stress Levels

Recent studies indicate that gardening for only 30 minutes a day, once per week, can reduce stress levels – and fatigue. The immediate and lasting health benefits of this finding substantiates that gardening is an activity we all should consider for our health and mental well-being.

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If you’ve ever taken an impromptu walk in the park or down a tree-lined lane, you know how you felt afterward. Likely, you were invigorated and thinking good thoughts rather than focusing on stressful subjects.

A garden can provide that mental well-being and possibly add years to your life. Studies have proven the fact that gardening is good for the body and the soul and cities are incorporating community gardens in their design plan to keep the population healthy and provide an outlet for stress and mental fatigue.

If you’re not an avid outdoor enthusiast, you’ll be happy to know that you don’t have to spend large chunks of time tending to a garden. Choose a gardening method, such as containers, that will keep you reaping the benefits gardening has to offer, but that you devote less time to.

You may live a life that makes it difficult to garden because of the time it takes, but there are methods where you can get the same benefits as avid gardeners who spend hours per week in their garden settings.

One method of gardening that lets you devote as much or little time as you like is planting in containers. You can make it even easier by setting up watering systems such as the drip method.

If you’re a beginner gardener, you’ll want to begin with easy-to-grow plants. Choose from a wide array of flowers to add beauty to your outdoor and indoor spaces or reap the health benefits from a vegetable garden.

Any gardening store can help you with the basics. Don’t invest in a lot of equipment and exotic plants until you find out if gardening is something you enjoy. Most of the basic gardening tools are inexpensive and will last a long time if cared for.

There are so many aspects of gardening to enjoy and that will provide stress-reduction and boost your health. Simply being outside in the fresh air and sunshine can help lift your mood, fill your lungs and flex your muscles.

Another healthy aspect of gardening is the beauty and peace it provides. If you have the space, carve out an area for a chair and perhaps a water feature that offers peaceful sounds.

After your gardening chores are done, take some time to relax and enjoy the sounds, sights, smells and touch that your efforts have provided. It’s amazing that only 30 minutes of gardening, one day per week can provide that much pleasure to your life.

Vegetable gardening goes beyond helping you feel less stress and can help you eat a healthy diet by providing you with fresh, chemical-free food that you can enjoy right out of your garden.

If you want to try your hand at gardening, but don’t know where to start, begin online with some tips and ideas about how to cultivate a garden where you can devote little time, but reap all of the benefits that gardening has to offer.

Gardening Is a Constructive Outlet for Anger and Frustration

If you haven’t experienced any anger or frustration today, you probably haven’t gotten out of bed yet. Anger and frustration are guarantees in life because everyday life can be stressful.

Not only can you experience the emotions when something gets off track in your life, but other people can also heap stressful situation on you, which only increases how you feel.

You have to vent. If you don’t vent, then you keep all of that negative emotion trapped inside of you, piling more and more of it together each time you feel angry or frustrated.

What will end up happening is that you’ll explode and vent at the wrong time, in the wrong place or at the wrong person. Or what ends up happening is you look for ways to self-medicate against how you feel.

The most common forms of self medication are through overeating, drinking too much or sleeping too much. There is a healthier way to deal with these emotions. You can find that outlet through gardening.

Spending time in nature this way lets you kick anger and frustration out before they take root and turn into something deeper like depression or anxiety. When you’re spending time in nature through gardening, you’re creating and that outlet is releasing those pent up emotions.

It doesn’t take a lot of space, either. Even a small garden will give you an outlet to relieve your emotions. As you work on the gardening tasks, you’ll notice that you don’t feel as stressed.

When you focus on something else, something relaxing and beautiful, it’s a natural stress reliever which eases anger and frustration. Gardening helps put you in a positive mood.

One of the ways that it does this is because you’re out in the fresh air and sunshine. You get loads of vitamin D, which boosts your mood and improves your health.

When you’re planting and watering and weeding, you lose the connection to the things in life that stress you and instead, you connect to living, growing things that help restore your sense of peace.

Creating a garden can be a haven for you and the sounds of nature calm the thoughts that keep anger and frustration stoked. The garden that you plant can be one of your own design or you can choose one from a design idea book. You can have whatever you want in the garden.

When you spend time in the garden, you’ll discover that it’s not only relaxing, but it’s also fun. An extra benefit of having a garden as an outlet for anger and frustration is that it’s also a form of exercise and exercise can also boost your mood and relieve stress.

5 Herbs That Help You Say Goodbye to Stress

Stress can permeate every area of your life before you know it. Challenges at home and work, not enough money and other life issues can cause anxiety that leads to stress and chronic problems and diseases.

Rather than reaching for potentially harmful prescription medications, cure what ails you with natural herbal remedies. It’s better for you, less expensive and is actually good for you.

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Here are some herbs that can help calm you down without making you sleepy and harming your health:

Lavender – This lovely and healing plant has no side effects that make you sleepy, but can be effective in helping calm anxiety. Studies that compared lavender to the medication, lorazepam, found that lavender was just as effective as the recommended prescription dosage. You can use the lavender oil as an aromatic stress reliever or take an 80 mg supplement once per day.

Passionflower – Studies show that passionflower helps eradicate symptoms of anxiety and depression just as effectively as oxazepam. The passionflower takes a bit longer to take effect, but you won’t suffer from drowsiness as a result. The recommended dose is approximately 45 drops of passionflower extract (90 mg. per day) three times per day.

L-theanine – Although L-theanine isn’t classified as an herb (it’s an amino acid), it’s available in black and green tea or as a supplement. Recent studies show that it’s extremely effective in reducing anxiety and stress, but won’t cause sleepiness. Drink a cup of black tea, which contains approximately 25 mg of L-theanine or green tea (containing approximately 8 mg of L-theanine) once an day for a calming effect.

Ashwagandha – Numerous studies have found that the herb, ashwagandha can be effective in a high-concentration extract to improve feelings of stress and anxiety – without harmful side effects. The usefulness of this herb has been compared to the anti-depressant, lorazepam.

Lemon balm – Another stress-relieving herb which can improve your mood and help you be more alert. Lemon balm extract has been used in numerous studies, finding that 300 to 600 mg reduces stress in most people. Lemon balm may also be used in aromatherapy to reduce stress by adding a teaspoon of dried lemon balm to hot water three or four times per day.

The herbs, valerian and kava, are also effective in producing a calming effect, but they can also make you drowsy, so use them with caution. Keep in mind that depression, anxiety and stress may be from deeper causes than result from work-related or other temporary issues.

Along with herbal therapy, try exercise, breathing techniques and forms of meditation to help reduce your anxiety and its impact on your daily life. Find out more about herbs and other ways to relieve stress by searching online or from the many available books and medical reports available.

Many herbs are easy to grow and can add much to your daily diet and improve the taste of food while keeping you calm and healthy. Explore the types of herbs available and what effect they might have on your mental well-being.

Why Go Gluten-Free?

You can’t turn on the news or open a magazine without seeing information about going on a gluten-free diet.  But what is gluten and why do so many people need to stop eating it?

Gluten is actually a protein that’s found in some grains including wheat, barley, and rye.  Most people encounter gluten, though, in products made from wheat and wheat flour.  Some individuals are very sensitive to gluten or even allergic to it.

People who are sensitive may experience symptoms such as headaches, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, and other illnesses associated with inflammation.  There are some blood tests that measure sensitivity to gluten, but you can have a negative test result and still be sensitive to it.

In that case, the best way to determine if you have gluten sensitivity is to eliminate gluten from your diet for at least two weeks.  Then add it back to your diet and pay attention to any symptoms you experience.  If adding the gluten to your diet causes you to have symptoms, you probably need to eliminate it.

A true allergy to gluten causes major problems and is known as celiac disease.  This illness can cause you to have diarrhea, severe weight loss, anemia, skin rashes, and pain.

People who have celiac will show positive results from blood tests and may also need to have a surgical biopsy to confirm the problem.  People who have celiac must avoid any products containing gluten because the allergy is so severe that eating gluten can be fatal.

While celiac disease has been around for a long time, it seems like the idea of gluten intolerance and sensitivity is relatively new.  One reason for that is that over time the concentration of gluten in wheat crops as increased by a huge percentage.

Another reason we may see more gluten intolerance is that people are eating more processed foods than ever before – and many of those are wheat based.  Finally, because gluten intolerance has been identified as a problem more and more people are able to be diagnosed.

Not everyone needs to go gluten-free, but if you’re allergic or sensitive to gluten you need to eliminate any products that contain it from your diet.  The good news is that there are more gluten-free options than ever before.

If you truly do have a sensitivity or allergy you’ll find that when you eliminate gluten you experience more energy, fewer digestive problems, and even effortless weight loss.

Gluten-Free Substitutions

One of the hardest things about going gluten-free is giving up some of your favorite foods.  But there are often tasty substitutions to help you make the transition without feeling deprived.

Let’s take a look at some of the best substitutions for gluten-free favorites:

Sandwich Bread.  One of the hardest things to give up is a sandwich made on wheat bread.  But you can make some simple substitutions such as using corn tortillas or brown rice tortillas and make sandwich wraps.  There are also some gluten-free bread options, but you’ll definitely notice a difference in texture.

In addition, many people use lettuce wraps in lieu of bread.  These provide a crunchy texture without adding any harmful gluten.  You can also use cucumbers sliced lengthwise as a substitute for bread.  Rice cakes are also a favorite for delivering sandwich ingredients.

Breadcrumbs.  Many recipes call for breadcrumbs to help hold foods together such as meatloaf or meatballs.  Instead of traditional breadcrumbs, try adding gluten-free oats.  They’ll hold everything together without changing the flavor.

If you’re using breadcrumbs to add a crunchy texture to the top of a casserole, try crushed potato chips or crushed flax cereal instead.  Both will provide you with a crunchy texture without the gluten.

Croutons.  When you bite into a healthy salad, it’s always nice to have a little crunch.  But croutons are generally made with wheat.  Instead try adding crunchy bacon bits, toasted almonds, or toasted walnuts to your salad.

Pasta.  Pasta is one of life’s greatest pleasures and a quick ingredient for meals.  You can enjoy gluten-free pastas made from rice flour and you won’t be able to tell much of a difference.

You can also use spaghetti squash, zucchini, or eggplant sliced very thinly as a substitute for pasta that also helps you get in an extra serving or two of veggies.

Flour.  White all-purpose flour is made from wheat, so you’ll need to eliminate it from a gluten-free diet.  But you can now find many flour substitutes made from almonds and coconuts that provide you with the texture of flour for baking your favorite treats.  They won’t taste exactly the same, but can still be enjoyable.

If you typically use flour to thicken soups and stews, try switching to cornstarch instead for the same effect.

While giving up gluten does mean that you’ll be letting go of some old favorites, it doesn’t mean that you have to feel deprived.

5 Tips for Going Gluten Free on a Budget

When you decide to improve your health by going gluten-free, you may feel a little sick as you see the prices for gluten-free products at the supermarket.  While eliminating gluten may be a health necessity, it can put a strain on your wallet.

Read on to learn how you can go gluten-free and hang on to some of your hard-earned money.

1.  Learn to Bake.  The most expensive gluten-free items are those that are baked and mimic foods such as cookies, cakes, and breads.  If you learn to bake you can save money by purchasing only the ingredients and doing the labor yourself.

You’ll also find that baking foods yourself is healthier than many of the processed options you’ll find that are gluten-free.

2.  Buy in Bulk.  When it comes to any purchase, it’s always less expensive to buy in bulk.  You can buy many gluten-free items online or in a warehouse superstore and get a big discount on the unit cost.

One important thing to remember, though, is that you need to store these items properly so that they don’t go bad before you use them.  For example, you may need to store some items in a freezer while others are okay at room temperature in an airtight container.

3.  Stay Away from Processed Foods.  There are many foods that are naturally gluten-free and are much less expensive than highly processed foods.  For example, fruits, vegetables, and lean meats are always gluten-free.  Rice is also an inexpensive grain that’s naturally free from gluten.

4.  Clip Coupons and Watch Sales.  When there are processed items that you just have to have, look for coupons to help give you a discount.  The newspaper is a great source of coupons as are many online coupon sites.  You can also check your weekly ads and stock up when your favorites are on sale.

5.  Make a Meal Plan.  For any type of diet, it’s always less expensive to plan meals ahead of time.  This allows you to stick to your budget as well as use expensive items for more than one purpose in a given week.

When you stick to your meal plan you’re less likely to make last minute purchases of gluten-free convenience foods that can be expensive.  It’s also good to include snack options in your meal plan to save money.

It’s possible to eat gluten-free without killing your grocery budget and still have plenty of foods you enjoy.

Gluten-Free Does Not Mean Grain-Free

Many people who are contemplating going on a gluten-free diet are concerned that they’ll no longer be able to have grains as part of their diet.  While some people choose to go grain-free, it’s not necessary to do so if you’re avoiding gluten.

In fact, there are many grains that you can eat when you’re on a gluten-free diet.  Read on to learn what you need to eliminate and which grains you can continue eating as you go gluten-free.

Grains That Need to Go

When you’re going gluten-free you’ll want to start by eliminating anything that contains wheat, barley, or rye.  That sounds easy, but many things are made with these ingredients including breads, cakes, cookies, and beer.

Another thing you need to know is that you can find gluten in foods that aren’t primarily grains.  For example, soy sauce is usually made with wheat and contains gluten.  So when you’re working to eliminate gluten completely you need to read all labels.

Not all products that are gluten-free will be labeled as such.  But look for the warning that a product contains wheat, rye, or barley as you make choices about what to put in your grocery cart.

Another grain called spelt is actually a species of wheat and does contain gluten.  So you’ll need to make sure that you don’t accidentally purchase products containing spelt thinking that they’re safe.

Grains That Are Safe

There are many grains that you can enjoy while going on a gluten-free diet.  For example, products made from corn and rice do not have gluten and are safe to eat.  You may also enjoy foods that contain grains such as millet, quinoa, sorghum, and teff.

These are often referred to as ancient grains and can be found in many supermarkets and health food stores as well as online.  Despite its name, you can also eat buckwheat.  While the name suggests that it contains wheat, buckwheat is actually a totally different plant and doesn’t contain gluten.

Oats by themselves are also free from gluten.  However, oats are often processed in factories that also process wheat.  If you’re avoiding gluten, and especially if you have celiac, it’s critical that you purchase oats that are certified as gluten-free.  These are guaranteed not to be processed alongside wheat where they can become contaminated.

In any case it’s always best to choose whole grain options when you decide to add grains to your diet.  Just because grains are gluten-free doesn’t meant that they’re good for you in a highly processed form.

10 Reasons to Go Gluten-Free

If you’re considering going gluten-free, but you’re not yet convinced, read on to learn 10 reasons why giving up gluten could be good for you.

1.  Celiac Disease.  Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease related to a gluten allergy.  For some people the symptoms are mild while for others they’re so severe that they can even be fatal.  But many people have celiac disease and aren’t diagnosed with it.  Giving up gluten can be a good way to determine if you have a problem with it.

2.  Migraines.  Many people with migraine headaches don’t know the actual cause.  It turns out that migraines can be related to gluten sensitivity.  The only way to know for sure is to eliminate gluten and then reintroduce it to see if it causes problems.

3.  Weight Loss.  If you’ve struggled to lose weight, even when you restrict your calories, it may be related to gluten.  People who are sensitive to gluten often hang on to excess weight – especially belly fat.  Eliminating gluten could help you to lose weight.

4.  Your Brain on Gluten.  Gluten has been shown in many studies to affect the brain.  By eliminating gluten you may think more clearly and people who have autism or epilepsy may actually experience improvements by going gluten-free.

5.  Carb Cravings.  If you find that you’re always craving bread, pasta, and other wheat-based carbs it could actually be a gluten addiction.  People who are sensitive to gluten often crave it.

6.  Inflammation.  If you have gluten sensitivity, eating it can lead to chronic inflammation in the body.  Inflammation can lead to diabetes, cancers, and heart disease as well as weight gain and fatigue.  Eliminating gluten can reverse this inflammation and restore good health.

7.  Leaky Gut Syndrome.  Gluten can be the culprit for causing leaky gut syndrome.  This is a condition in which your intestines leak toxins back into your bloodstream and leads to inflammation and health problems.

8.  Better Nutrition.  When you give up foods containing wheat you’ll be eating fewer processed foods and will naturally gravitate toward more fruits, vegetables, and lean meats that are better for your body.

9.  Less Gas.  Many people who eat wheat also experience trouble digesting it.  This can lead to uncomfortable cramping, bloating, and embarrassing gas.

10.  Fertility.  Many women who experience infertility are actually suffering from gluten sensitivity.  By eliminating gluten some women who have previously experienced infertility and miscarriages are able to conceive naturally and deliver a healthy baby.

Try this Simple Trick to Lower Your Blood Sugar—Meditate!

Here’s a very interesting post by Dr. Kellyann Petrucci, author of NYTimes besteller “Dr. Kellyann’s Bone Broth Diet” I recommend you read right away:

My life is crazy these days—but no matter how busy I am, I schedule a few minutes every day to meditate. That’s because I learned a long time ago that meditating makes me feel happier, calmer, and more focused. In addition, research shows that it lowers stress and inflammation.
And guess what: There’s another big plus to meditating! According to a new study, the mindfulness you achieve by meditating can actually lower your blood glucose.
Why is that such a big deal? Because rising blood glucose levels can lead to obesity and metabolic syndrome, and eventually can result in diabetes. And high levels of blood glucose damage every part of your body, from your eyes to your heart to your brain.
The best way to reduce your blood glucose, of course, is to cut high-carbohydrate, low-nutrition foods like sugar and grains out of your diet and replace them with foods like pastured meats, eggs, vegetables, and healthy fats. You can also lower your blood sugar by exercising and by fasting. But here’s why adding mindful meditation to your arsenal is also a good idea.
In the new study I mentioned, researchers evaluated nearly 400 people using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). After adjusting their data for a number of factors, they found that people with a high MAAS score were 35 percent more likely to have healthy blood glucose levels than those with low MAAS scores. One reason, they speculate, is that mindfulness gives people a greater sense of control over their lives, leading to healthier habits.
So cultivate your own mindfulness through daily meditation. It may take time to get the hang of it—but when you do, you’ll love the results.

Read on

Click here for link to Amazon Dr. Kellyann’s Bone Broth Diet: Lose Up to 15 Pounds, 4 Inches–and Your Wrinkles!–in Just 21 Days